Flotsam & Jetsam 8, 9, 10, 11

Whew. Finally, this post brings me up to date on the comings and goings of recent mail. Above are the four latest in the Flotsam & Jetsam series of postcards. These have already gone live, so maybe one is headed your way. I used reply cards for the backgrounds again. I almost threw away the last one because I've seen about all the Hannah Montana merchandising I care to. Then, I reconsidered and kept it. Glad I did. It is now winging its way to a 10-yr-old little girl in Germany. I hope she likes it.

My First Postcrossing Card

Recently I joined Postcrossing and mailed out my first five cards. After six days of traveling, my first card arrived in Germany. That meant I was then eligible to send out another card, which I did. But more importantly, it meant that I was eligible to RECEIVE my first card. So, then the wait began. The wait was worth it. I got my very first card from Michele (Michael) in
Venice, Italy.

Surely Venice is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and I'd love to visit there some day. Until then, I will have to be content visiting via The Travel Channel and postcards. Ciao!

What Goes Around

When this letter showed up in my mailbox yesterday, you should have seen the smile on my face. Melissa wrote that she got inspired from my Never Buy Another Envelope post and wanted to try it herself. And so she did. Don't you love the paper ric-rack she used for borders?

Melissa has started a new blog as well called We Love Snail Mail. She is actively recruiting members, so be sure to click on the link.

Fun Monkeys Sans Barrel

Melinda, aka GirlZootZilla, sent me the fuzzy monkey card and envelope. Those mischievous little primates scampered willy-nilly everywhere. But her letter was definitely more fun than the proverbial barrel of monkeys.

Oh, Happy Day!

Jacqueline, of Little Red Mailbox fame, sent me this fun card. She writes that she made it for an altered card workshop she co-taught this spring. I feel so lucky to get this one. Woot!

Chicago, Chicago, That Toddlin' Town

More mail from Send Something. This one comes from a bona fide, born and raised there, Chicago girl, Monica. Chicago is another of the many, many places this country gal hasn't visited. It's on my list though. I'd really like to go in December when all the department stores have their windows decorated.

Considerably South of the Northern Lights

Not a sight one sees much in ole Crockett, Vee Aay. This neat postcard comes to me from Jackie Flaherty of Letters and Journals. Check out her blog to stay up to speed on the progress of her new magazine.

Sticker-Doodle-Do

This letter came to me from Cathy Thompson via Send Something. She decorated her envelope with a combination of, you guessed it, stickers and doodles. I could just tell by the envelope there would be a great letter inside, and I was right! Thanks, Cathy.

Flotsam & Jetsam 6, 7

More debris washed up onto my desk, so that led to F&J 6 and 7. This flip-flop card is traveling to London where hopefully I will soon see it on Andy's wall. Check out Andy's blog, My Real Wall. Way cool!



Number 7 is a birthday greeting for my daughter Sharon in St. Louis. I hope it made it there on time. It should have. You may have spotted these two cards in my last entry.

...And They're Off!

Here's the mail that went out on Monday. Maybe one of these is headed to a mailbox near you.

Twitter Feed

Hmm....I don't know if this will work or not. I mean, I know it WILL work if everything is set up correctly, but I don't know if I did that. We'll see.

What it is supposed to do is make a tweet for me on twitter when I update my blog. I think.

Way Cool Wax Seal

Tejal sent me this beautifully addressed letter. But the front side is just the beginning. Inside was her wonderful letter...the first of many, I hope.

On the back she sealed the envelope with a real wax seal. This, of course, makes me want to have wax seals of my own, but I am trying to resist. I do have something I think might be a wax seal, but I will save that for another post.

Here is a closeup of the seal. As you can see, it survived its trip through the postal system unscathed. I wonder how Tejal knew that stars are sort of my signature image. Hmmm...cosmic forces at work here, no doubt.

Flotsam & Jetsam 3,4,5

For Flotsam & Jetsam 3,4,5 I did something a little different. Instead of gluing down bits and pieces, I glued down entire cards.

These are three of those annoying reply cards that fall out of magazines, in this case, Details.
The postage paid side of the card got glued down to the print side of recycled cardboard. I wrote my message on the blank side of the cardboard and used the address space of the reply card for my addressee. Does that make sense?

So, there you go. Yet another idea for free postcards.

What says Summer better than Flip Flops?

Flip Flops. Don't you love them? They scream summer; they scream fun. This cool card comes to me from Wilma of the Outer Banks....sigh....via sendsomething.net. I've answered and will be dropping it into today's mail.

Never Buy Another Envelope

Earlier I showed a couple of envelopes I made. But, maybe you're not into starting from scratch. Okay, that's fine. How about repurposing some of your junk mail? Anyone up for that? Take one envelope. This one came with my phone bill. It's the one they want me to use to send my payment back in. I also use the envelope the bill itself comes in. Open it carefully at the seams.





Fold the envelope wrong side out. Many of these junk envelopes are the security types with cool patterns inside. Apply glue to the flaps and fold them in. Notice the flaps are on the outside of the envelope this way, rather than on the inside.





Decorate the envelope if you choose. Now it's ready to address. You can slap a label onto it and it's good to go. Or, you can write the addy on plain paper and tape to the inside of the window. Write me a letter. Maybe my reply will come to you in one of these!

Flotsam & Jetsam 1 and 2

In keeping with my "use what you have" (at least for now) policy, I've launched a new line of postcards. The series is titled, "Flotsam & Jetsam" and each individual, one-of-a-kind card will be made from whatever bits and pieces I find floating around on my art table. The first two of the numbered series are pictured here. Maybe one is heading your way.

If you'd like to receive a Flotsam & Jetsam postcard, drop me a line! My address is in the sidebar.

Snail Mail Rocks!

Oh, boy! Oh, boy! Today I received my first blog-generated letter from Melinda in Denver. Thanks, Melinda! It made my day!

She started writing inside this lovely blank Japanese print card, but ran out of room and added an extra piece of stationery. I love it when that happens!


Isn't the little snail mail sticker she placed on the back of her envelope cute?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Here is another envelope I made from my Emory & Henry magazine. My main goals on this blog are, of course, to find correspondents and to encourage others to write more letters. However, a secondary goal is to reduce the paper clutter that tends to accumulate around my house.

I admit it, I'm a paper junkie and certainly have pack rat tendencies. I save magazines and junk mail for my collage projects. I buy postcards, greeting cards and stationery at garage sales and thrift stores. So, I've promised myself to make do and use what I have on hand, at least for the rest of 2009. We'll see how that goes. Wish me luck.

Going Postal

Here's the first envelope I mailed out. Is is handmade from my college alumni magazine. I liked the feel of the paper. It had a nice weight to it with a slick, glossy finish. I used one of the Kreate-a-Lope (sp?} templates as the guide.





This photo shows the back of the envelope. I found the "Going Postal" phrase in my stash of magazine clippings/collage fodder.